Wall switch extension



Dec. 25, 1956 w. A. MEDER 2,775,674

WALL SWITCH EXTENSION Filed March 25, 1955 "F 13 Ti=q.2..

mvew'ron W/L L/AM A M5051? BY XMWa W TORNEYS United States Patent WALLSWITCH EXTENSION William A. Meder, San Lorenzo, Calif.

Application March 25, 1955, Serial No. 496,701

4 Claims. or. 200-172 This invention relates to devices for actuatingelectrical wall switches, and is more particularly directed towards anextension adapted to be operatively associated with such a switch so asto eflect movement of the latter from a remote position.

In many instances it is necessary or desirable to have some form ofextension or attachment for wall switches so as to permit the actuationthereof from a vertically lower position. This permits small children toreach the toggle or switch lever without requiring such children tostand on chairs or other vertically raised platforms. Heretofore,numerous types of such extensions have been patented and placed on themarket, but none of such devices have acquired any widespread acceptanceby the trade for a number of various unrelated reasons. For example,many of such extensions were relatively complex in construction,permitted damage to the wall surface on which the switch and extensionis mounted, and possibly more important, permitted the switch to bedamaged upon accidental movement of the extension in a direction otherthan that required for normal actuation of the switch.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide anextension for a toggle-type wall switch which is extremely simple inconstruction and which may be operatively positioned relative to theswitch by merely removing or loosening a single screw from the switchface plate.

Another object of the invention is to provide an integrally formed andrelatively rigid extension of the character described in which means areprovided for positively insuring proper switch actuation upon raising orpulling downwardly on the extension, yet which is so arranged so as topreclude the possibility of damage to the switch upon lateral movementof the extension.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the characterdescribed which is freely pivotable on the switch plate above the levelof the toggle, such pivot forming the sole connection of the extension,and in which the extension may freely rock about the pivot withoutdanger or injury to the toggle.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a device of theaforementioned type in which the portion thereof engageable with thetoggle for moving the latter, is readily engageable by the hands of aperson so as to readily permit actuation of the toggle from either thedistal end of the extension (as in the case of a child) or by directlyengaging such portion of the extension adjacent the toggle (as in thecase of an adult or taller person).

The invention possesses other objects and features 0 advantage, some ofwhich, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the followingdescription of the preferred form of the invention which is illustratedin the drawing accompanying and forming part of the specification. It isto be understood, however, that variations in the showing made by thesaid drawing and description may be adopted within the scope of theinvention as set forth in the claims.

Referring to said drawing:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of a portion of a wall, a switch faceplate and switch lever or toggle, with the apparatus of the presentinvention shown in operative position thereon.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the structure shown in Figure 1.

Conventional wall switches are well known in the art and no detailedexplanation is deemed necessary as to either their form of constructionor mode of operation. It is believed sufiicient to state that suchswitches generally include a casing 6 arranged to be positioned within arecess formed in a wall 7. The switch lever or toggle,

generally indicated by the numeral 8, extends outwardly of the wallsurface through an opening 9 formed in a plate 12 which comprises thecovering for the casing and is in substantially coplanar relationshipwith the Wall surface. The plate is secured to the casing 6 by means ofa pair of screws 13 and after connection of suitable conduits toportions of the switch casing, vertical reciprocation of the toggle 8will result in an opening and closing of the electrical circuit for thedesired electric light or other electrical fixture.

For numerous reasons, the switch boxes and consequently the togglestherefor, areusually positioned approximately four feet from the floorsurface. This distance renders the toggles very accessible to grownpersons, but extremely inaccessible to small children who neverthelessmay possess the intelligence and ability to turn the switch to its on oroff position. Accordingly, it is the intention of the present inventionto provide an extremely simple extension whereby the toggle may beactuated from a position below the level of the toggle.

As will be seen in the drawing, the extension, generally designated bythe numeral 21, comprises a substantially rigid member 14 which may bestamped from metal or formed from a suitable moldable plastic material,such as one of the phenol-aldehyde resins. The lower distal end of themember may be flared outwardly as indicated at 22 so as to space themanually engageable portion thereof from the wall surface and permit themore ready grasping thereof by the hands of a child as well aspreventing damage to the wall upon movement of the member. Means areprovided intermediate the ends of member 21 for actuating the toggle 8upon vertical reciprocation of the member. It will be appreciated thatin view of the single pivotal mounting for the member, that the lattermay be rotated about a horizontal axis, and consequently care must betaken so that such rotation has no deleterious effect on the switchtoggle. In some of the prior art devices, an aperture was provided insuch an extension member for receiving the toggle, and due to thisarrangement, any side movement of the member would result in a lateralforce being exerted upon the toggle and subsequent weakening or breakingthereof.

Therefore, as a principal feature of the present inven tion, the portionof the-member 21 which is adapted to engage and actuate the toggle 8comprises an ofiset integral portion 23 of generally U-shapedconfiguration with the legs thereof extending generally normal to theplane of the member and the base thereof disposed in offset parallelrelationship thereto. standing any pivotal or lateral movement of theextension, there is no danger of exerting any lateral or side forces onthe switch lever or toggle. Instead, as the portion 23 is entirely openat the sides or edges thereof, the member may be freely moved laterallyand completely pass the toggle without striking the latter. It is onlyupon vertical reciprocation of the member, when the latter is alignedwith the toggle that any force is In this manner, notwithimposed uponthe latter, and obviously such force will tend to move the toggle intoits off or on position. Furthermore, as will be presently explained, theentire member is only capable of limited vertical reciprocating movementso that there is no danger of causing the member to raise the toggleinto, for example, its uppermost position, and then still permit furtherforce to be placed on the toggle which might result in the breakagethereof.

In order to attach thhe member to the face plate 12, a slot 25 extendingfor a short distance along the length of the member adjacent the upperend thereof is provided, such slot terminating in an enlarged circularportion 26. This slot is arranged to receive the upper face plateholding screw 13 through the portion 26, and the slot, having a normalwidth smaller than the diameter of the head of the screw 13, will permitmovement of the member about the screw 13 as a pivot. Obviously, thedegree to which the screw is tightened will control the force requiredto vertically raise and lower the member and it is contemplated that themember be permitted substantially free movement relative to the screw.It will be understood that the extension, due to gravital forces, willtend to remain in a vertical position and in engagement with the toggle,unless the extension is deliberately forced to rock about said screw. Itwill likewise be understood that the slot portion 26 is utilized onlyupon installing the member, and after such installation, the screw willbe aligned with the slot 25 so as to prevent accidental dislodgement ofthe member.

The lower end of the slot portion 26 is substantially immediatelyadjacent the upper leg of the U-shaped portion 23 of member 21 and thelength of the slot is such that vertical movement of member 21 isrestricted to that required to completely move the toggle between itsupper and lowermost positions. In other words, the length of the slotdetermines the vertical movement permitted of the member andconsequently by restricting this movement, there will be no danger ofcontinuing to exert force on the toggle after the same has reached itstwo limits of travel. This of course is extremely important inpreventing damage to the toggle by continued force being exerted thereonnotwithstanding its having reached its extreme position of movement.

From the foregoing description, it will be appreciated that theextension of the present invention is extremely simple in constructionand operation, will adequately fulfill the desired objectives of thistype of device, and will insure against any damage to the toggle orother parts of the switch mechanism or to the wall or plate surfacethrough which the toggle extends.

What is claimed is:

l. A manually engageable extension for a wall switch provided with atoggle extending outwardly from a wall plate having a mounting screwdisposed above and below said toggle, comprising: a flat longitudinallyextending member, said member having longitudinally extending slot meansfor pivotally attaching said member to one of said wall plate screwswhile permitting vertical movement of the member relative thereto, andmeans extending outwardly from the plane of said member adapted toengage upper and lower portions of said toggle for actuating the latterupon vertical reciprocation of said member while permitting freetransverse movement of said member about said pivotal attachmentrelative to said toggle.

2. A device of the character described comprising: a generally fiatlongitudinally extending member, means on said member defining alongitudinally extending slot therethrough, and a portion of said memberadjacent said slot being provided with a pair of spaced offset portionsextending generally normal to the plane of said member and a connectingportion bridging the ends of said oifset portions so as to provide anopen sided U- shaped form of substantially the same width as saidmember.

3. A device as set forth in claim 1 in which the distal end of saidmember remote from said slot means is offset from the plane of saidmember.

4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which said slot means has an endportion thereof provided with an enlarged aperture for receiving thehead of said screw.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,099,585 Von Hoorn Nov. 16, 1937 2,389,220 Tredeau Nov. 20, 1945

